I'm still alive if some of you are wondering… I mean, if there are still readers waiting for an update, that is… Err, I know it's been ages since my last update, long story short, life got in the way, my previous job made me miserable and I had to quit, so many things happened and disturbed me from writing. I hope that you'll like this chapter, because I really struggled a lot with it. A mega huge thanks to BlueRam, the life saver who betaed the mess that was this chapter before she worked her magic on it.

ShadowedHood and Anigasm, thanks a lot for putting up with me and for cheering me up whenever I feel down, you're very precious to me, thank you for everything.

Please enjoy the chapter my lovelies, I hope this will be an acceptable apologize for the extremely long wait.

Chapter Twelve: Weakness
Written by Itooshii Koneko
Betaed by the awesome BlueRam

The hospital doors slammed open with a terrifying force. An almost ricochet effect as the walls shuddered at the impact, two panicked men in miner uniforms rushing in, dragging by the arms a man that writhed in terrible agony.

"Monster! A red eyed monster! It came to kill me, it's going to kill us all!" The man's heart beat frantically against his chest, rapid echoes and rush of blood in his ear as a strangled scream escaped his tightening throat. Damn it! They didn't understand, they were going to die! They had to let him go, he had to run, before it was too late!

"Help! Damn it! Please, someone help!" One of the men yelled, grunting as the hysterical man fought there hold desperately. The crazed man was determined to flee! Flee what? None of them knew, none of them cared, they just knew this man needed help, their friend needed help!

"Don't you understand?! We have to run away!" the writhing man screeched louder, his face was a horrible shade of red, his pupils were blown wide, terrified and pleading for them to listen, to hear what he was not saying. To just understand that they were all in grave danger!

The commotion alerted the hospital's stuff, as two nurses and the doctor on-call quickly rushed to the man's side. They were swift in administering sedatives, and soon the man's frantic tirade came to an end, much to the troubled men and onlookers' relief. The white haired doctor managed to help the sluggish man into an awaiting wheelchair, and dutifully checked his pupils for any sign of intoxication.

"What happened?" Kabuto, the young doctor, asked the miners after giving instructions to the nurses.

"We don't know! We work at the mine. He went to get us water, and a moment later we heard him scream," the first guy explained. He was obviously worried, eyes never straying from the prone form of his friend as he bit the cracked skin of his lips nervously. He couldn't quite understand how this was all happening, the strange race of his heart and the sweaty palms of his hands not helping as his friend was rolled out of sight.

"We found him unconscious, and when we woke him up he started raving like a madman, about some kind of a red eyed monster who's going to kill us." The second man added, twisting his cap nervously between his dirty hands. He would never admit how shaken up he was, never admit that he too had looked around for the red –eyed monster because damn it to hell, his friend couldn't have just gone off the bend so suddenly!

"Does he have any psychological disorders, or is he taking any kind of medication you might be aware of?" Kabuto asked professionally, adjusting his round glasses on his nose.

"No, nothing. Yoshii has always been perfectly healthy, it's never happened before,"

"We thought that maybe he had really seen something, bats are common in mines, you know. But he's not a newbie, he's not afraid of bats, so it must have been something else! We checked the place though, and we didn't find anything," What else could they possibly say, they were all worried, and nervous even. Yoshii was so convinced, he was hysterical, but he really thought he saw something. He really thought they were all going to die, yet…they hadn't seen anything.

"We're going to run a blood test, and see if there is any trace of drugs in his system. He might have inhaled something that could cause hallucinations." The young doctor explained, pulling the stethoscope from around his neck and slid the device in his pocket.

"Kabuto-senpei, aside from the high blood pressure there is nothing seemingly wrong with the patient. The blood sample have been taken and sent to lab for further observation." The red haired nurse promptly briefed Kabuto as she handed him the patient's tab. He didn't say anything at first, carefully reading over the tab.

"Thank you, Karin-san." He dismissed the nurse, barely sparring her a look of disdain. Her attire wasn't anything to desire, she wore a white blouse much shorter and tighter than necessary, anything but professional. One would wonder if she even cared, but the thought was not of importance, at least not to him.

"Please, go to the front desk and fill out the patient's papers form before leaving," He didn't so much as spare them another glance before he excused himself, he had done his job and didn't have time nor patience to assuage their fears. But his dismissal fell on deaf ears, as he heard hurried footsteps so close behind him.

"Can we see him, doctor?!" The miners were worried sick, yet this doctor couldn't spare them a single word of good will. They frowned, wondering if they had made a mistake and should have ran off with Yoshii as he has desperately wanted.

Kabuto held in the sigh of frustration, pinching the bridge of his nose before he exhaled lightly, adjusting his slipping glasses. "Your friend has been sedated, he proved quite resistant to our treatment, lost in his hysteria."

Kabuto finally spared the miner a glance, the man was deeply shaken he could tell. His hands twisting in his worn shirt, the smell of sweat and dirt sticking out like a sore thumb. "Let him rest, it'll be a while before he actually wakes. Leave and return tomorrow, visiting hours start at 1:00 pm. Now if you please, I have patients to attend to." His voice was smooth, dismissive as he turned to leave again, the heavy stare of the concerned miner boring into his back.

Less than an hour the doctor had received the miner's lab results. It was as he had expected, no traces of drugs or alcohol in his system. He frowned as he read on, entering the patient's room only to stop short at Sakura's presence. The woman was hovering over the unconscious man, what she was looking for was anyone's guess. The thought did not sit well with him.

"Sakura-san, I believe that your shift has ended half an hour ago. What are you still doing here?" he asked, frowning at the insubordinate nurse. It wasn't the first time she had disobeyed an order, or overstepped in her duties. If he hadn't better control of himself he would have been angry, as it were, he allowed a cold smile to cross his lips.

"I've heard about the commotion, so I came here to help," the pinkette swiftly replied, putting the patient's tab down.

"Is that the results of his blood test?" She would admit her curiosity, something that grew when Kabuto held the tab just a fraction closer than usual. She would have missed it if she had been anyone else, if she was a regular civilian.

"Thank you, but your help won't be necessary here. Being a nurse doesn't give you the authority to read patient's files out of curiosity," he said curtly, ignoring her request.

"That wasn't my intention, Kabuto-senpei. I just want to be helpful," Sakura defended, frowning at the cold man. Dismissal wasn't anything new to her, but this man grated on her nerves. He was good at hiding his emotions with fake pleasant smiles and light airy tones, yet there was no mistaking what this man thought of her.

"And I'll let you know when your help is needed. As of now, you may leave," he patronized the pinkette, and walked past her to check the man's vitals.

"Alright, I'm leaving then." the young kunoichi didn't push her luck further, and left the hospital. She had found what she was looking for anyway.

"Did you sense anything?" Kabuto asked with a rather annoyed tone, his calculating eyes piercing Karin's red ones. The young doctor couldn't stand the unruly nurse, but as the devoted right hand man he was, he put his distaste aside and followed his boss' orders and teamed up with Karin.

The red haired woman on the other side of the mahogany desk ignored him, and crossed her arms over her chest defiantly, she was only accountable to her boss and no one else.

"Karin." Orochimaru warned the short-tempered nurse, but his slit eyes sparkled with amusement. He had summoned the duo in his office to report about the mine's incident, but his subordinates interaction never failed to entertain him.

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama. Someone used genjutsu on Yoshii-san," Karin replied, and placed her hands upon her hips as she shifted her weight from side to side. "But the chakra I've sensed on him doesn't belong to anyone I know,"

"Would you be able to identify the shinobi who did this?" the boss asked, already guessing her answer.

"Hmph! Of course!" she asserted and flipped her red hair back in indignation. It was ridiculous that man would even ask her such a question. She was more than capable and they all knew it.

As one can tell Karin wasn't any nurse, she was a kunoichi under Orochimaru's orders. She assisted the man in his experiments along with Kabuto, but her strongest asset was her sensory abilities that allowed her to sense any target's chakra signature without any conscious effort.

"Perfect," Orochimaru smirked. "You'll both go to the mine tomorrow, I want you to examine the miners, and take some dirt samples from the tunnel where Yoshii-san had been found. Tell them that it's for precaution measures, but the real purpose is to find who used genjutsu on Yoshii-san, and why."

As the two subordinates nodded in agreement, a shadow immerged from the back of the room and approached the trio with slow steady steps.

"Here is the list of all my men. The guards didn't see anyone or anything out of ordinary." the shadow now recognized as Zabuza, the manager of the mine's construction, explained handing a brown manila folder to Orochimaru.

"Thank you, Zabuza-san," His smirk was as it always was. Spelling nothing and everything at the same time. The smirk did not falter as he scanned the papers, not even as he seemingly paused for a second, strange eyes glittering in the darkness of the room.

"Sasuke-san didn't work tonight." It wasn't a question, but it didn't stop Zabuza from replying regardless.

"No, he has requested slight changes to his schedule during his mother's stay," the bulky man explained, his eyebrows knitted in a deep frown. "That boy is stronger than what he shows."

"Did you send someone to check his whereabouts?" Orochimaru asked, he was very much aware that it wasn't beyond the limits of a shinobi to easily slip under their radar, especially if said shinobi was spectacularly gifted for stealth and reconnaissance.

"Yes, he was at Tazuna's—" Zabuza replied, a smirk teasing under his mask, gaining curious stares from both Karin and Kabuto. "—Having fun with his wife"

Contrary to the previous nights, Sasuke didn't work the night shift, he was laying on bed beside his 'wife', an arm tucked under his head as he examined the dark roof above them while Naruto slept on her side facing him. The night was very peaceful, an almost reprieve from his once turbulent emotions at the mention of his father earlier that day. He wasn't one to easily lose his tight grip on his emotion, especially in the midst of a mission but—just for a moment—

Fresh cool breeze fluttered through the open windows, engaging the light curtains in sensual dance before gently caressing their heated skin.

It would have been a welcomed distraction, enough for him to perhaps drift of peacefully for once, a thought that proved useless as a presence screamed at his senses. The tilt of his head towards the window would seem normal, a shift seeking comfort for being in a positon for too long. Beside him the blonde's eyes snapped open, she had sensed the presence too, and had made no move to rouse suspicion…a well-trained reaction that even one as hyperactive as her could more than pull off.

They had set a plan in motion with Kurenai, a plan to be initiated this very night. The unknown presence that observed them so closely was a sure sign that the genjutsu mistress had been spotted. She had been delegated to infiltrate the mining tunnel and break through its genjutsu. The objective was to discover what could be important enough to hide away with measures such as genjutsu. After all, wasn't this supposed to be a shinobi free village? Whatever was there, whatever intel they could gather could prove the key to eliminating the mercenaries, whether they would be stolen scrolls, weapons or the organization's HQ.

Sasuke turned on his side, sliding his hand under the sheets to place it on Naruto's hip. The kunoichi tensed up but moved closer, laying her head at the crook of his neck.

"Someone is watching us," she whispered feeling a shiver run down her spine, when the raven moved his hand softly from her hip to her upper back.

"Hn," he titled his head and nudged his nose under her earlobe, letting his raven bangs hide his Sharingan that dutifully scouted the perimeter.

"One man, at two o'clock, one hundred fifty meters away, unarmed." He ascertained, his lips a soft whisper against the tip of her ear, warm almost too hot air against her sensitive skin.

Naruto's breath hitched as she closed her eyes, a strange sense of nervousness settling in the depths of her chest. The blonde gulped, swallowing the traitorous moan that threatened to spill from her soft lips.

"W-what is he doing?" She stuttered, feeling ridiculous at how her skin heat up from something like this!

"Watching," the raven replied closing the distance between them, his Sharingan eyes still focused on the hooded man perched on the tree outside.

"T-teme!" The embarrassed blonde hissed, frowning as she laid on her back, her hands braced against his arms to prevent him from moving closer. She couldn't let him get closer!

"We play our role, and he'll leave." Sasuke looked down at her smirking. He would be lying if he said that her reddening cheeks and dilated eyes weren't arousing, long gone was the tomboy, a flustered and quiet attractive young girl was now laying underneath him.

The young Uchiha acted on his words, he slid closer and placed one hand under the joint of her knee while the other finished its journey in her silky blond locks.

"Un-unless he's a sick perv!" Naruto growled, turning a deep shade of red. She felt dizzy under the full focus of Sasuke's attention, his teasing touches—the nervousness was back, a feeling she fought through as she clumsily ran her hands along the plains of his muscled back. For the mission she repeated to herself. For the mission, yet that voice in her sounded so weak.

"Hn," his smirk grew wider as he raised her knee up, and settled between her legs. He was enjoying the situation way too much, who would've thought that the tough kunoichi was this sensitive.

Unfortunately or fortunately, the raven wasn't quite sure, the slight movement brought a delicious friction over his groin as it brushed against the girl's crotch. He grunted, his teammate gasped and released an unintentional moan. Yes, very sensitive indeed.

"F-fuck! What are you doing, teme?!" the blonde breathed out, getting hotter as Sasuke buried his face in the crook of her neck. He wanted to bite her hard, to leave his mark on the flawless sun kissed skin. Even more, when the girl tensed and uselessly tried to move away, she dug her feet into the mattress and lifted her knees up, trying to put some space between them, but she only tightened her knees around his hips suggestively.

Sasuke growled, snaking his hands into Naruto's hair, the subtle movement hid the performed hand sign as the young Uchiha summoned a shadow clone. The growing bulge in his sweat pants was proof enough of his arousal, but he didn't lose track of the mission and stayed focused.

"He's gone. I've sent a clone to follow him," the shinobi declared calmly, as he slid away from the girl shaking beneath him.

The raven sat up on the edge of the bed ignoring his hormones, he needed to cool down a little bit. He spread his legs slightly and glared down at his crotch, thankfully his pants were loose enough to hide his discomfort.

Tsk! Getting turned on by Naruto was becoming a painful habit for the young male, he frowned at the realization. This was not good, not good at all!

"Uh?" 'What… what the hell was that?!' Naruto blinked still lost in the overwhelming thrill brought by Sasuke's touches, she sat up watching him leave the room quietly. She put her hand over her chest, her heart felt like it was about to explode, furiously beating against her chest and her skin felt as if it was on fire. Like a thousand ants crawled underneath the surface…she had never felt this way before.

The sixteen year old girl had never been touched so intimately, it was something completely foreign and embarrassing. She had always been the disrespectful tomboy, and no one had ever showed any interest towards her, not like she cared mind you! She had been too busy training to care about something as trivial as dating, but here she was thrown completely off balance by those luring touches, a warm tightness was growing in the pit of her stomach, and she wanted more.

More of what?!

She wondered, exasperated by her traitorous body, she was never supposed to react that way, but how could she not?! Sasuke was almost dry humping her! Okay she was probably exaggerating there. She shook her head to clear her mind. Damn! They were in the middle of a very dangerous mission for crying out loud; there was no time for distractions.

Her mental debate was interrupted as two Sasukes showed up before her, one came from the door and the second was the clone who entered through the open window.

"It was Deidara, he went to the mine. Zabuza was waiting for him, he probably sent him to check if I was home." The clone declared, then added looking at Naruto. "He was wearing an eye scope."

"He saw… everything?" Naruto asked rhetorically, even more embarrassment in this awkward situation she had found herself in, her blush fierce and bright as she fidgeted with the hem of her orange shorts.

"Zabuza is at the hospital. A miner had been admitted earlier, Sakura must know what happened." The clone finished, then puffed away.

"Hopefully, Kurenai-sensei found something relevant," There was nothing different about Sasuke's voice as he looked at the clock on the nightstand, it was still early; almost three am. You would think that nothing had happened between them earlier, think that they hadn't—hadn't what exactly? Without a word Sasuke moved to get some sleep, slipping under the sheets silently, they couldn't do anything else at the moment.

Naruto nodded not trusting her voice, she could still feel the ghost of Sasuke's lips against the curve of her neck, a tingling trail, and then there was his gentle gentle caress that left shivering goosebumps upon her skin. She followed his lead silently and slid under the sheets, leaving a large space between them for extra precaution. The blonde sighed deeply, exhaustion washing over her as she closed her eyes and let sleep take over. This was going to be a very very troublesome mission.

The young couple had joined Kurenai at that traditional restaurant they visited the day before, the pinkette was too busy with work and couldn't come so it was only the three of them. After idle chitchat, they decided to go to the docks and finish their conversation in a more private place. The ever-insistent Deidara kept waltzing around their table and made any touchy conversation nearly impossible, the young Uchiha would never admit it, but the way the man's eyes were glued to Naruto's body unsettled him greatly, he wanted nothing more than to gauge Deidara's eyes out.

"Team Eight was right, there is a second entrance to the mine, protected by a powerful genjutsu." The raven-haired kunoichi declared, as they reached the farthest dock where no eavesdropper could spy on them.

"Shino's bugs couldn't go further," Sasuke stated recalling team eight's report, and the older kunoichi acknowledged it with an affirmative nod.

"I must say that I was very intrigued. The place was hidden behind a double false surrounding technique, that's why the bugs were so easily trapped inside. Only a skilled genjutsu user can see through this illusion."

"What's this technique?" Naruto asked frowning, she had never heard of it before.

"It's a powerful genjutsu technique that places an illusion within another illusion. Even if the target dispels the first, they won't realize that there still is another one. That's what happened to Shino-kun's bugs." Kurenai explained then added smirking. "It was very pretentious of them to leave the place unguarded yesterday, they thought that this sort of illusion would be enough to protect the tunnel"

Flashback

Kurenai appeared in a blur of swirling petals at the spot identified by Shino, it was the tunnel where his precious bugs had been trapped within a genjutsu, a forest at the northeast side of Ishigakure, the closest border to Iwagakure. At first glance nothing was out of place, it was just a peaceful forest, but after dispelling the illusion the thick bushes disappeared and an underground tunnel materialized before her.

'Easy. Too easy…'

The tunnel was narrow, and the darkness ahead meant that the exit was still far ahead. The walls had a series of circles engraved, with fire torches hung up along the way to illuminate the dark passage. There was no enemy in sight, absolutely no one in the vicinity, but the kunoichi came suddenly to a halt, noting that the moist air of the tunnel was mixed with a subtle smell of pine and redwoods. The forest she left behind didn't have redwoods. She frowned channeling her chakra and the tunnel disappeared in a blur, revealing in its place a completely different scenery.

'Another illusion!'

The kunoichi was still in that forest, but the tunnel had a different entrance in the form of a giant snake's head, she grimaced at the frightening sight. Who would want to walk into a snake's mouth?! She couldn't deny it, the shinobi who put this trap was pretty skilled; using a double false surrounding illusion to hide the tunnel would lure any shinobi who wasn't a good genjutsu user.

She advanced cautiously inside until she reached a bifurcation, she eyed the two separate ways wondering if one of them was a trap. 'Left or right?' She couldn't hear nor see anything particular that could help her choice. The kunoichi pondered the use of a clone, but dismissed the thought, not knowing who and how many were her opponents, and most importantly how strong they were, she preferred reserving her chakra as much as she could, and stepped into the right tunnel. She grabbed a kunai and walked slowly inside, ready to fight if need be.

The pit was designed like a labyrinth, with many butt ends and turns that lead to square one, it was unnerving but Kurenai kept moving forward. Many rooms were carved, she had counted twenty-one during her inspection, but they were all deserted and equipped with the same set of furniture: a bed and a desk. It was peculiar.

Further down the tunnel, another genjutsu was hiding a passage that lead to what looked like a cave, it revealed itself to be a connection with the mine Sasuke had been relegated to work. When she sensed someone approaching, she disappeared in a mist and performed her favorite jutsu, the mirage of a fast-growing tree coiled itself around her target, effectively immobilizing and silencing the young miner as she emerged from the trunk of the tree above him. The frightened man froze as his eyes met her ruby red ones, the kunoichi trapped him in a genjutsu and started her interrogation.

End flashback

"Yoshii-san told me that some men had disappeared from the village lately, one of them was his friend named Rhee, he was Tazuna's neighbor," Kurenai said after relating the events of last night.

"I think that I've heard this name before," Naruto mumbled, putting a finger on her chin in a thoughtful manner.

"He was the owner of the house in sale that Tazuna talked about the other day," Sasuke reminded her. When they arrived at Ishigakure, their host had informed them that a house was on sale in the neighborhood, and that it should be easy for them to make the deal.

"Oh yes, I remember now! It's the house facing the park few blocks away from his. But Tazuna didn't say that its owner had disappeared." Naruto's eyes sparked with recognition.

"Yoshii-san believes that he had joined a group of men who are trying to regain the Kuriharu clan's former glory. Two weeks ago, he witnessed shinobis coming through the same tunnel with a carriage, but couldn't see what they were transporting."

"It was probably the stolen scrolls and weapons," Sasuke interjected.

"Probably. Sakura said that Yoshii had been admitted to the hospital yelling about a red-eyed monster, that would be me," Kurenai made a face then added, "They handled the situation as if he had hallucinations, but they must suspect something."

She paused, letting the young ninjas digest the information she had shared with them.

"I sensed persons approaching and retreated back, I wasn't spotted but I couldn't investigate the other tunnel. They had sent men to check the tunnel, however I was already far ahead."

"I have the night shift today, I'll see if I can go there unnoticed," Sasuke informed the kunoichis as they walked back to the village.

"They would have probably put more guards in place, since they suspect an infiltration attempt. It wouldn't be smart to wander around so soon." The blonde pointed out, frowning at the young Uchiha. He was usually the careful one! What was he trying to pull?

"Worried about me, dobe?" The raven asked, a playful smirk on his lips as the blonde steadily flushed a furious red.

Since they woke up that day, the young girl had made it obvious that she was keeping a safe distance between them. Sasuke wouldn't admit it but he agreed with her, he was feeling attracted to his teammate like magnet, and the safe distance kept his raging hormones at bay. They had both acted as if nothing had happened during the night, it was fine by him, but he couldn't help but tease her every now and then. Watching the boyish kunoichi stutter and blush turned out to be as fun as sparing with her, the young Uchiha would say for his defense that both brought the same outcome: humiliating the blonde.

"T-teme!" the blonde blushed as expected, then growled. "I'm more worried about the mission than your sorry ass!"

"Hn," his smirk only grew bigger, it was entertaining.

Kurenai chuckled and shook her head in amusement. "You really look like an old married couple, you know."

"Sensei, please! Not you too!" Naruto pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Why, Naruto-chan? That's a good thing, it means that you won't blow your cover." Kurenai explained with a wide smile adorning her lips.

"Right." The blonde mumbled skeptically and looked away.

"Have you visited Rhee's house?" the older kunoichi asked when they turned a corner and saw a park not too far ahead. There previous conversation playing repeatedly in her mind. Did she miss anything? Was there anything else that could be done?

"No," Naruto blinked titling her head to the left slightly, she wondered how visiting a house in sale would benefit them.

"We should visit it, we may learn more about Rhee and the organization." The genjutsu mistress suggested.

"Hn,"

The trio went to the estate agency of the village, where an agent offered them to visit Rhee's house along with two other apartments, but Sasuke had declined the offer stating that they needed a garden for their children.

"As you can see, the house is well situated, it's detached with enough privacy without being isolated. The park in front of the residence is far enough to keep the noise away." The suit-clad agent started the visit professionally, then invited them to come inside.

The architecture was completely different from Tazuna's house, the entrance door opened into a vast living room that communicated with an open kitchen, it was very cozy and of good taste, but the detail that struck the three Konoha shinobis was the presence of many furniture in the house, yet it looked inhabited.

"Fujiro-san, I thought that no one was living here," Naruto pointed out, looking at the slightly dusty furniture decorating the living room.

"Yes, it's available immediately. You can keep the furniture if you want," the agent cleared out heading to the staircase. "Let's go upstairs, shall we."

Upstairs were a bathroom and two small bedrooms, the third one was the parental bedroom, it was bigger and had its own bathroom. In few words, it was a nice house for a small family.

"This is a very beautiful house, I wonder why the owner left? It's big, calm and well situated," Kurenai spoke casually, looking out the French windows of the parental bedroom, it opened on to a small suntrap terrace and overlooked the small garden.

"I know. The house became too big for Rhee-san after his wife's death, so he left." Fujiro explained, a pained look casting over his green eyes.

"That's so sad," Naruto spoke softly. "Was she sick?"

The old man shook his head negatively. "No, they went to visit family and were attacked on their way back here. She didn't make it."

"That's horrible! Who did this?!"

"He said that they were Iwagakure's shinobis, they mistook them for enemies." Fujiro hissed, glaring at a random spot on the floor.

"They should die for taking the lives of innocents," Sasuke said coldly, gaining a surprised look from the old agent, who he quickly nodded in agreement.

"Yes, they should."

"How much for this house?" the raven asked going back to business. The old man seemed to like him, judging by the look of approval on his face. Sasuke hoped that he would make an effort and offer an affordable price for the young couple.

"200 000 ryo, but I'll do my best to negotiate the price for you, leave it to me!"

"This house is exactly what we were looking for. Thank you so much for your help, Fujiro-san!" Naruto exclaimed cheerfully, she bowed in respect and smiled at the sympathetic old man.

Kurenai looked down at her tea cup and sighed, she placed the hot beverage on the coffee table and faced Tsunami. Naruto had left the two older women in the living room and headed straight upstairs to take a nap.

"Tsunami-san, I've heard about what happened to Rhee-san's wife. I can't help but worry about Sasuke and Naruto's wellbeing. Please tell me, is it really safe here?"

The other raven nodded, offering a reassuring smile. "I was a little worried too, but don't worry the elders are working hard for our safety."

That perked the kunoichi's curiosity, who were these elders Tsunami was talking about, and what were they doing exactly? They strongly suspected Daitan Futekina, but didn't have any evidence to confirm their suspicions.

"I'm sorry Tsunami-san, I don't mean to offend you, but I've always lived in a shinobi village, and I can't see how a civilian village like Ishigakure can protect its inhabitants without the help of shinobis."

"That's where you're wrong Kurenai-san, a civilian village doesn't equal weak. We have our own law enforcement system which makes the village independent from the help of outsiders, we also carefully monitor, asses and decide who crosses our borders. Trust me, there is no place safer than our village. I have seen how our men work hard for our safety… Inari's father died to protect us."

"I'm really sorry, I brought up painful memories, didn't I?" She pressed her lips in a thin line, and held Tsunami's hand sympathetically.

The wound from Asuma's death was still fresh and painful, she sucked a deep breath and added falling back into character. "My husband is a shinobi who goes on dangerous missions on a daily basis," she sighed looking down at her lap. "I'm very proud of him, but so scared at the same time… When Sasuke told me that he wanted to leave with Naruto, I was secretly happy. I don't like being so far away from them, but knowing them safe makes me happy."

Tsunami squeezed her hand gently. "Don't worry, many high skilled men are mobilizing secretly among civilians to make sure that-"

"Tsunami!" the kind woman was cut off harshly by her father's cold voice, she jumped slightly and turned around to face the old man standing at the doorstep.

"Dad?"

"What are you talking about to strangers you have barely met?" he asked her rhetorically, his eyes glaring at said stranger.

"Dad, can you stop with your paranoid act! She's a mother worried about her son, I understand the feeling. She heard the rumors about Rhee-san's wife, you can't blame her for being worried!"

"I'm sorry, Tsunami-san, Tazuna-san," Kurenai stood up and bowed deeply at her hosts. "I didn't mean to be noisy."

"It's alright, please forgive my father's rudeness," Tsunami shook her head and smiled at the other women.

"Tsk!" Tazuna quickly left them and went upstairs, his daughter wasn't going to listen to him anyway.

"Mom, I'm hungry!" Inari rushed inside the house, oblivious to the tense atmosphere weighting in the room, but the puppy's soft barks and the boy's laughter warmed the place up instantly.

The interruption cut the interesting conversation abruptly much to Kurenai's disappointment, the two women went to the kitchen to prepare some snacks and ended up talking about random and useless things.

Later that night, Sasuke was back to work but the place was unusually loud, buzzing with growling miners, one of them informed him that they were told to head to Zabuza's tent first.

"That really sucks, we weren't even there but they still want to examine us, tsk!" Suigetsu complained walking towards him, his arms folded lazily behind his head.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow questioningly, noting that four other miners were waiting their turn to go inside their boss' tent too.

"You didn't know?" the whited haired boy asked, genuinely surprised. "The boss asked us to line up here, a nurse is going to take our blood. They think that we had inhaled some shit in the mine."

Sasuke frowned, waiting for the boy to go into more details. He didn't like the idea of letting them take his blood, but there was no running away.

"A miner got pretty bad hallucinations yesterday, so they want to make sure that the tunnel is safe and that we can keep digging," Suigetsu snorted. "They don't give a fuck about us! They just want to make sure that the construction won't stop!"

The raven quirked an eyebrow at that. "Were you expecting them to hold your hand?"

Suigetsu laughed whole heartedly at the raven's nasty response. "I didn't peg you for a funny one, dude! But no, I don't need a mother, I'm expecting a raise, that's the least they could do."

The shorter had a point and everyone agreed with him, if the place was dangerous, the guys were hoping for a compensation for risking their lives.

"Silence!" An angry growl silenced the small group of men gathered around Suigetsu. Karin, the red haired nurse, appeared out of the tent and glared at the noisy group adjusting her glasses on her nose. "Next!"

Sasuke walked past the little crowd and approached the nurse, the girl instantly blushed and melted under his dark eyes. He mentally rolled his eyes when she smiled and batted her eyelashes at him, it was the same thing over and over again.

"P-please, follow me," She cleared her throat and walked inside the tent first, swaying her hips suggestively. She couldn't believe her luck, among those Neanderthal idiots was the hottest guy she had ever met, and for once she was glad to be stuck with Orochimaru's dirty chores.

"Undress," Karin quickly instructed, mentally squealing like a schoolgirl. The redhead was not going to miss the priceless opportunity Kami had offered to her, she wanted to see more of the lean body hidden under that hideous uniform.

"I don't need to be naked for a mere blood sample," Sasuke beat back calmly.

Karin blushed but didn't let his coldness deter her, on the contrary she found it extremely attractive. "But I need to examine you thoroughly, Mr?"

"Yūhi Sasuke," he replied, not moving an inch.

'So, that's him. Not bad!' The red head noted his name on a clipboard, then pointed at the bed at the far corner of the tent. "Sit,"

Karin sat down on the chair beside the raven, who extended his right arm silently. The closer she got, the more overwhelmed she felt by his chakra, it was incredibly strong but very cold too. Chills ran down her spine when her fingers touched his skin as she tied the tourniquet around his arm, Orochimaru was right about him, he was hiding his real power, and to be totally honest, she didn't want her boss to mess with the gorgeous man.

She shook her head to dismiss the dazzling effect of the man's chakra, and focused on her task instead. She rubbed the crook of his arm with an alcohol pad, and inserted the needle gently into his skin. She finished by checking his vitals, giddy to get the chance to see the man shirtless. Once done with the check-up, she dismissed him reluctantly.

"Is it Sasuke-san?" Kabuto asked, he didn't bother to comment on the woman's lingering gaze. He disliked her, maybe he would even go as far to say she disgusted him, yet she proved a useful asset even now. It was not beyond him to recognise her worth to Orochimaru.

"No, it's not the chakra I sensed on Yoshii-san." She could practically hear Kabuto's thoughts, his disdain for her. She didn't much care what he thought, at the end of the day they were on the same level. Whether he accepted that small fact was his problem, not hers.

Kabuto nodded. "Give me his blood sample." He demanded, blocking the tent's exit with his body. He smirked when the redhead glared up at him, but still handed him the blood vial.

[Two days later]

"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto walked hurriedly inside his boss' office, and handed him a file. "Please, take a look at Yūhi-san's blood tests."

Orochimaru frowned but a smirk quickly lifted up the corner of his lips as he finished scanning the results.

"Yūhi-san's DNA sequence is unusual, it carries the markers normally found in kekkei genkai users. This means the possibility of him being a user is relatively high." Kabuto pointed out smirking.

"It seems like we've found quiet a nice specimen here." The pale man chuckled. "Follow the usual procedure, isolate the mutant genes and when there is a definite confirmation of kekkei genkai, try to reproduce them."

Orochimaru stood up and walked up to his collection of snakes, there were different spices preserved in bottles of formaldehyde, neatly lined up on shelves behind his desk like trophies.

"Kabuto-san, do what's necessary to have Sasuke-kun on our side by the end of the week." His evil smirk grew wider at the new plan he started scheming with the help of their future recruit.

Kabuto bowed respectfully and left. It was a wild guess, but he thought he just might know where Sasuke's weakness lay. He wouldn't get ahead of himself, there plans required as much caution as they allowed. Even so, he would test his theory as soon as possible.

"Nana-chan, when is Yūhi Naruto's next appointment?" Kabuto asked the nurse in charge of the obstetrician appointments schedule.

"Tomorrow at 9am with Sakura-san."

"Assign Sakura-san to the delivery room, I'll take care of Naruto-san personally." He ordered as he headed to his office.

Poor Naruto-chan, he chuckled at his mock compassion, he was more than pleased by the blonde's vulnerable condition, it made his job all the easier to do.

Thanks a lot for reading! Please don't leave without writing a review, it means a lot to me. I need to know what you think about this chapter, I'm so so nervous!